Double-digit footfall growth shows Abu Dhabi residents are all in the 'Mall'

Over 900,000 visitors have passed through the mall every month in 2006, approximately the same number of men, women and children that live in the UAE capital. To accommodate further growth, Marina Mall has today opened over a thousand new underground car parking spaces which will provide direct access to the latest shopping and entertainment additions.

'This year Marina Mall has welcomed over a dozen of the world's super brands in the field of fashion and jewelry,' said Nadeem Wajahat, Acting General Manager, Marina Mall. 'These companies are housed within an environment which has been especially designed with a natural theme to create a holistic and relaxing shopping environment. Combined, these two factors have helped us achieve record visitor numbers and we expect a similar performance in the second half of the year as more unique facilities, stores and services are opened to the public.'

Marina Mall invested AED 300m in increasing the size and services offered by the mall in 2005 and opened new leasing space in February 2006. Today, the mall houses brands such as Boss, Bvlgari, Chanel, Fendi, Gucci, Georgio Armani, Luis Vuitton, Mont Blanc, Tag Heuer Tiffany & Co., Yves St. Laurent and Valentino.

Later this year Abu Dhabi will see the launch of the Middle East's coolest entertainment attraction. Snoworld is a combined retail and entertainment destination will include a fully equipped ski-slope, skating rink and shopping complex all located within Abu Dhabi's premier retail landmark.

'The vision of Marina Mall is to build a landmark shopping complex not only for the UAE, but for the Middle East as a whole. We are working to complement and support the endeavors of our colleagues across the capital, and together we will grow the reputation of Abu Dhabi as the city to visit for tourists and businessmen from around the world,'

Nadeem Wajahat continued.

Forbes Magazine has ranked Abu Dhabi fifth place in global ranking of emerging cities and a study by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce ranked it amongst the most prosperous cities in the world according to GDP per capita. Abu Dhabi has also been named amongst the top tourism destinations for 2006 by UK-based travel company Expedia.co.uk and government ministers are predicting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to reach $4 billion during the year.

'All the factors are there to support our expectations of continued success. In particular the investment in tourism, real estate and transit will further increase the city's international reputation for excellence in tourism and commerce,' Wajahat concluded.

Marina Mall is owned and managed by National Investment Corporation.